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Next: ECU at College
of Charleston |
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Monday, 7 pm |
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FOOTBALL |
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Stunningly, a new era at hand |
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 As
head football coach at his alma
mater, Ruffin McNeill avoided
treating the position as though he
were Chief Executive Officer of a
business. McNeill favored a family
model. He was daddy. The players
were his sons. The assistant coaches
and coordinators were uncles.
McNeill's abrupt dismissal Friday after an injury-plagued 5-7 season was
a reminder that big-time college athletics is indeed a business.
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More from
Al Myatt... |
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Pictured: Ruffin
McNeill acknowledges the Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium crowd before what would turn out to
be the East Carolina alum's final homecoming
game as head coach of the Pirates,
a 30-17 win over
Tulsa on Oct. 17. (W.A. Myatt
photo) |
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BASKETBALL |
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Pirates start fast, finish strong |
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GREENVILLE —
East Carolina never trailed in a
74-48 nonconference win over Florida
Atlantic on Tuesday night. A
3-pointer by Caleb White put the
Pirates ahead 5-2 with 16 minutes
left in the first half and ECU (4-3)
led the rest of the way.
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Another Senior Day heartbreaker |
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GREENVILLE — Cincinnati
provided some unwanted deja vu
as East Carolina was trying to
nail down a bowl bid and send
its seniors out in style
Saturday at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium. For the second straight
year, a play as time expired was
the difference maker in a loss
on Senior Day for the Pirates.
Andrew Gantz was once again a
villain for ECU. ...
More from Al Myatt... |
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Audio: Ruff post-game |
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  ECU
coach Ruffin McNeill
spoke with reporters
after the Pirates' loss
to Cincinnati (recorded
by Al Myatt; file
photo):
Select audio clip... |
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Staff Report
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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View stats on ECUPirates.com
GREENVILLE — Left-handed
scoring powered East Carolina past South Carolina-Upstate 82-71 in
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Friday night.
Sophomore B.J. Tyson led
the way with a career-high 26 points. Freshman Kentrell Barkley had
18 points and junior Caleb White rounded out the southpaw assault
with 13 points.
The Spartans, guided by
former ECU coach Eddie Payne, fell behind 8-0 at the outset but
rallied to lead 27-23.
A jumper by Tyson put
the Pirates ahead to stay at 28-27 with 4:18 left in the first half.
ECU (5-3) was on top
39-33 at the break.
Upstate (1-9) was within
53-50 with 11 minutes to go before before the Pirates got some
cushion with a 10-4 run.
Prince Williams had 11
points and four assists for ECU. Mike Zangari had seven points and
six rebounds.
Barkley grabbed nine
rebounds as the Pirates held a 33-31 rebounding advantage.
Tyson contributed five
rebounds and three assists.
ECU made 27 of 50 field
goal attempts for 54 percent and dropped 25 of 32 free throws.
“Not often as a coach do
you come out with a W when the other team shoots 13 of 27 from the
three," said Pirates coach Jeff Lebo. "So give them credit. They
really attacked the zone and made shots against it. I'm really proud
of my group to understand our game plan, which was to take the ball
to the rim."
ECU had a commanding
48-18 lead on points scored in the paint and led 17-4 on second
chance scoring.
A pair of freshmen paced
the Spartans' scoring as Mike Cunningham had 18 points and Deion
Holmes added 15. Junior Michael Buchanon chipped in with 14 points.
Lebo was pleased with
his team's zone defense.
“The thing about the
zone too, they make some 3s in it, but you look at the fouls, and we
did not foul," Lebo said. "We shot 14 more foul shots than they did.
That’s one of the things you kind of give up a little bit in hopes
that they shoot the perimeter shot a little bit. A couple of them
were open, but some of them were contested. They had a great night.
They threw one in backwards.”
The Pirates improved to
4-0 at home before a crowd of 4,464.
ECU takes a three-game
winning streak to College of Charleston for a 7 p.m. tipoff on
Monday. The Cougars are 4-2 with a 70-58 win over LSU on Nov. 30
going into a matchup at The Citadel (5-3) at 11 a.m. today (ESPN3).
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
Brian's guests this week were ECU
basketball coach Jeff Lebo (left)
and Rose football coach David
Wojtecki (right):
In
the wake of its last-second,
season-ending loss to Cincinnati,
injuries and close losses sum up
East Carolina's 2015 football
campaign. Five of the Pirates' seven
losses were by 10 points or less.
...
